Spotify's Dash-Mounted 'Car Thing' Now Available for $89.99

[iMerik]

How is this better than your iPhone stuck on the dash with a $10 Mount? (Apart from the scroll wheel?)

I wouldn't mind having a nice little screen like this where my passenger and I could both interact with the music without needing my phone being on display and accessible with notifications, etc. also showing up, getting in the way, displaying information, etc. I also wouldn't mind plugging in and tucking away my phone and then just relying on this. But I also don't have a vehicle with CarPlay yet.

 

[Neepman]

You are basically paying 89 bucks for a scroll wheel. Since I plan on driving my 20 year old car for another 20 if I can, I'm all over this.

 

[kpierce]

I have this for my 2015 vw. It has bluetooth but doesnt display information on the screen or allow you play/pause. I personally love spotify car thing. Car thing automatically plays which is the main reason I hate the existing bluetooth in my car. There are a few buttons on top that you can save playlists to. If you play a specific song it defaults to playing the "radio" for that song helps me find new music. I have been considering getting one for my house and office desk. Really convenient to have a dedicated screen for the music.

 

[XXPP]

I want something like this but wireless car play

Car and Driver INTELLIDASH PRO Wireless Apple Carplay ONLY 7'' IPS Touchscreen with Bluetooth, SiriusXM, Siri Assistant. Dash Windshield Mounted​

$399

 

[ddtmm]

Ironically the only cars I can think of that this would be useful for do not have bluetooth, aux or usb either, every other car has it already built in anyway and what would you do with navigation? (I suppose this device does not include Google Maps?) there is only so many devices the fan can handle

I think by navigation they mean navigating the menus. If you were to go to the trouble to wire the AUX into your existing car stereo you might as well just wire your phone to the car stereo and buy a grill mount for your phone.

 

[Yonizzle]

Great. Something else to distract drivers.

Yeah but it’s presumably far less distracting then a vent-mounted phone and cheaper/easier to set up than a whole new CarPlay/Android Auto head unit. Seems like a great option if you’re a Spotify subscriber without CarPlay, which probably describes lots of people.

 

[spiderman0616]

This reminds me of those chonky standalone GPS units many of us used to suction cup to our windshields. Back then, unlimited data wasn't widespread, smartphones were not mass market, and real time turn-by-turn directions were just best left to a specialized device. Put simply: phones were not the digital Swiss Army Knife they are now, because network bandwidth, service fees, and hardware costs didn't allow it for most people.

In 2022 there is no reason for something like the Car Thing to exist. It is a solution looking for a problem that was already solved years ago by a $10 car vent clip or a CarPlay enabled vehicle. This is Spotify trying to make a play for hardware because the business they're currently in makes no money. Companies like Apple can write that business off as just a cost of making the ecosystem stickier. Spotify can do no such thing without jacking up subscription fees on their users. Look for them to be doing that very thing once this device belly flops.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, if Spotify had tried something like this 5 or 6 years ago, it would have been some kind of Spotify branding deal on an exclusive Android phone with a big hardware maker. That move has been tried and failed so many times now by so many companies, it's just not something you see anymore. All Spotify could come up with was a mountable MP3 player.

 

[Wags]

I’m holding out for the Car Thing v2.

 

[oliversl]

I want one! Looks really nice and well build

 

[Tagbert]

So this is Spotify's version of an iPod? Spotipod?

 

[unixinu]

How is this better than your iPhone stuck on the dash with a $10 Mount? (Apart from the scroll wheel?)

I think having the phone dedicated to maps and Car Thing dedicated to music is great. Also, voice control works better than on the phone, and it's always on – but only when I'm in the car, which is how I want it.

 

[michaelprescott]

It looks remarkably like an extra, out of place, car radio. Instead of "Car Thing" they could call it, "Car Radio+" or "Extra Car Radio" or "Vent Mounted Radio"

 

[milkrocket]

If this had CarPlay or Android Auto, maybe it would have had some purpose.

 

[kingtj1971]

Sigh .... There's apparently still a market for these things, but I don't quite get it? IMO, these stand-alone devices clutter up the dash and just act like remote displays/limited controls for smartphones you're already carrying with you.

At least when you put one of those Sirius/XM receivers in a vehicle, it was really a device that was self-contained. It didn't rely on your phone to function.

If I'd ever buy one of these at all, it would at least have to offer "universal support" for most popular streaming music services.

 

[tmmacops]

Nice...so on a cold day I can have it block one of the vents, while listening to JRE, and a cable dangling. It's like an $89 torture device...

 

[macsound1]

How is this better than your iPhone stuck on the dash with a $10 Mount? (Apart from the scroll wheel?)

That’s what makes it useful. Hardware buttons for favorite “stations”, hardware scroll wheel, hey Spotify that only understands music choices and won’t think you’re asking about the weather, and an always on screen.

 

[Octavius8]

My car does have BT and USB, but not CarPlay. Playing Spotify in my car is not so efficient as sometimes the convection over USB gets interrupted due to a phone call and the car does not resume the song, so I have to disconnect the USB cable from my iPhone and connect again and the art is not updated in the car screen. So, if this thing has a more reliable usb connection with my BMW, I can consider it. No need to take my phone out of my jacket when I get in my car!. Not for everyone? But I am one other “dozens” out there. Not everyone has a recent model car, by faaaaar

 

[SigEp265]

Car and Driver INTELLIDASH PRO Wireless Apple Carplay ONLY 7'' IPS Touchscreen with Bluetooth, SiriusXM, Siri Assistant. Dash Windshield Mounted​

$399

I did see one similar to that but the reviews weren't that great. thanks for the share! ill check that one out

 

[dannyyankou]

The name is a bit silly but I actually kinda like it, lol. That probably what they referred to it in internal meetings, then just decided to stick with it.

I have an Echo Auto though which I prefer because it's less distracting, no screen.

 

[eddjedi]

For those saying aftermarket CarPlay solutions are too expensive, I have this in my 2005 BMW which fitted in place of the original screen so it looks completely seamless, and it was about £250. They make them for many car brands now. Way better than a tablet stuck to your dash that only has Spotify.

 

[Spock]

Now there is a perfectly good reason to bring back the iPod!

I wish that I could transfer downloaded Apple Music albums to my last generation iPad nano. I don't want to carry my iPhone 12 Pro Max when I exercise and I don't want to kill the battery in my Apple Watch listening to music.

 

[california_kid]

Cue music...

Car Thing
Spotify while driving
You make everything...distracting
Car Thing

 

[Adarna]

For those saying aftermarket CarPlay solutions are too expensive, I have this in my 2005 BMW which fitted in place of the original screen so it looks completely seamless, and it was about £250. They make them for many car brands now. Way better than a tablet stuck to your dash that only has Spotify.

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If I were to design the dashboard I would have wanted that display be forward and flushed above the air-con vent.

 

[InuNacho]

For those saying aftermarket CarPlay solutions are too expensive, I have this in my 2005 BMW which fitted in place of the original screen so it looks completely seamless, and it was about £250. They make them for many car brands now. Way better than a tablet stuck to your dash that only has Spotify.

My 2005 Z4 doesn't have the screen and I don't think any Z4 prior to the redesign around 2008 have the screen at all. I only have a single DIN slot/connection on mine so I drilled a hole in the bottom panel and put in a 3.5mm cable to connect to my phone. I slapped in one of those CD magnetic bases to hold the phone. Not pretty but it works.

Back to the topic of this thread. I love it when Macrumors users think they are the common man voice of anything and today's voice is that of the car driving populous!

 

[eddjedi]

If I were to design the dashboard I would have wanted that display be forward and flushed above the air-con vent.

Yes ideally it would have been brought closer, but this is where the OEM screen was and the shape of the dash would make it impossible to have it completely flush, it would need to be inset slightly at least.

My 2005 Z4 doesn't have the screen and I don't think any Z4 prior to the redesign around 2008 have the screen at all. I only have a single DIN slot/connection on mine so I drilled a hole in the bottom panel and put in a 3.5mm cable to connect to my phone. I slapped in one of those CD magnetic bases to hold the phone. Not pretty but it works.

Yeah I used to have a Z4 too and the screens were in a cut-out on top of the dash, and folded out. I've seen retrofits but it's a big job!